Charleroi man denied bail for allegedly picking up juveniles for sex
A Charleroi man was denied bond Monday after he allegedly picked up three underage girls in Connellsville over the weekend and took them to a hotel, intending to have sex with them.
Connellsville police said Brandon Michael Johnson, 35, added the girls – one 12-year-old and two 13-year-olds – to a group chat on the social media platform Snapchat on Saturday, sending them sexually explicit photos of himself.
Police said that the girls repeatedly told Johnson that they are underage, but he offered $60 to $130 for sex and sex-related acts. Court paperwork indicated he told the girls he would pay them to make meeting for the encounters a regular occurrence.
Police said Johnson eventually convinced the girls to meet him at a city restaurant. When he showed up, he allegedly gave the girls drinks with alcohol and drove them to a hotel. There, officers alleged, he paid them $310.
Charging documents indicated the girls distracted Johnson long enough to make it out of the room, and then fled. Johnson allegedly sent several Snapchat messages to the girls, asking where they were, and they reportedly told him they had called the police.
The complaint stated Johnson blocked the girls from from seeing their four-person conversation, and deleted his Snapchat account, allegedly to destroy any evidence of the messages.
Johnson was charged with kidnapping, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful restraint of a minor, interference with custody of children, concealment of whereabouts of a child, luring a child into a motor vehicle, trafficking of individuals, attempted aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, tampering with or fabricating evidence and concealing or destroying evidence.
He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr. on Monday with a preliminary hearing scheduled at 1 p.m July 14.
Due to the nature of the charges against Johnson, Haggerty denied bail.